Terrorists must not be allowed to win

Little was known immediately after an attack on the Finsbury Park mosque in north London. The city brimmed with questions as to who was behind the attack, who had been apprehended and what their motives were. While the first two have now been answered, the latter remains open.

A 48-year-old man was arrested at the scene. He had used a hired van to drive into worshippers as they left evening prayers and was apprehended by worshippers until police arrived. One person was killed and several others seriously injured. A senior terrorism official at the Metropolitan Police has since declared that the incident is being treated as a terrorist attack.

The attack bore many of the same hallmarks as the March 22 Westminster incident in which six people were killed when a vehicle driven by Khalid Masood ploughed through a crowd, many of them tourists. It deals another blow to a city wrestling with another attack earlier this month and at a time when London is still coming to terms with the horrors and scale of the Grenfell Tower fire.

This time, these were Muslims who had just completed acts of worship. London mayor Sadiq Khan said that “while this appears to target a specific community, it was also an attack on shared values”. A counter-terrorism official echoed the sentiment, saying that this was “an attack on London and all Londoners” since “all the victims were from the Muslim community”.

This particular mosque has a controversial past. It was the base for the extremist preacher Abu Qatada, who was deported from the UK in 2013. At the height of his influence over the mosque, it was described by one British newspaper as a “clearing house” for extremists. Those days are long gone and the Finsbury Park area has a reputation for being home to a tolerant and inclusive community.

Whatever the motives of the attackers, this was, indeed, an assault on daily life. Just as it has done in the past, it is important that London continues to react the way it did after Westminster and London Bridge. Over all the challenges of recent months, London has shown a united front against extremism and terror threats, regardless of where they may come from. Similarly, last week’s tower block fire brought the city’s people closer together. Terrorists seek to disrupt and disjoint daily life. Whatever their motivations, they must not and will not be allowed to win.